


ask and ye shall receive

by Liliace



Series: demon!Tony [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: (for Tony and Bucky), (he's missing an arm okay), (or super secret boybands or whatever), Alternate Universe - No Powers, Attempt at Humor, Bucky Barnes-centric, Canon Disabled Character, Demon Summoning, Demon Tony Stark, Friendship, I'm Bad At Titles, M/M, POV Bucky Barnes, Pre-Relationship, Sam/Steve is a side pairing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-26
Updated: 2016-02-26
Packaged: 2018-05-23 08:21:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6110644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liliace/pseuds/Liliace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was a Bad Idea. Getting a demon that was sort of hot didn't make it any less of a Bad Idea. But, wait, what's this about the demon getting Bucky laid?</p>
            </blockquote>





	ask and ye shall receive

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo... Consent is a basic human right? No one coercing anyone into anything? Idk, those were the thoughts that made me want to write my own demon summoning AU.
> 
> I was strangely inspired last week and wrote many fics. Perhaps I'll get around to posting some of the others as well. (I have Loki/Tony, Rhodey/Tony, Clint/Tony, and a couple more Bucky/Tony. Plus some Spideypool ones I wrote this week. Even one of those has Tony in it and is told from Tony's PoV. Is it obvious he's my fave?)

This was clearly a bad idea. A very, _very_ bad idea. In fact, Bucky wasn't sure why he had agreed to it.

Well, that was a lie. He had agreed to it because Steve had, and there was no way he was letting that punk do something like this alone. Obviously he had tried dissuading Steve first, but that hadn't worked – not that Bucky had expected it to. Steve could be a really stubborn sonnuva bitch sometimes. Or, well, always.

So here they were, sitting in a circle with Natasha, who had suggested the idea for reasons unknown to Bucky, Clint, who didn't appear to have a care in the world, and Sam, who was at least looking slightly doubtful over the whole thing.

Bucky decided that Sam was his new favourite. Who cared that he and Steve had been best friends since childhood; common sense and shared doubts were much more important.

"Last chance to back out," Clint said as he twirled a lighter in his hands.

Bucky wasn't sure he was the best person to put in charge of fire, but that wasn't the biggest issue here anyway.

"Great, yes, let's not do this," Bucky said, clapping his hands cheerfully.

That only got an eye roll from Steve and smirks from both Clint and Natasha, while Sam sighed and shared an exasperated smile with Bucky. Seriously, Sam was totally his new favourite.

"Don't be a chicken, Barnes," Clint said.

"I don't have to be a chicken to have common sense and realize that this is a Bad Idea. Capital letters there," Bucky rolled his eyes.

"I'm with him," Sam said, nodding in Bucky's direction.

"Sam!" Steve exclaimed with a mock look of hurt, putting his hand over his chest for good effect. "How could you? Betraying me like that!"

Sam laughed before leaning in to kiss Steve, and Bucky made some gagging noises before smiling innocently when Steve turned to glare at him.

"Alright, boys, back to business," Natasha commented, instantly gathering everyone's attention. "If anyone actually wants to leave, this is the last chance to do so."

Sam and Bucky both glanced at Steve who was staring at Natasha in determination. Both men sighed, then, knowing that it would be impossible to talk Steve out of it, and that bodily dragging him out of there wasn't going to result in anything good.

Besides that, Natasha was Bucky's friend too. He had met her through Steve, but there was just something about Natasha that reminded Bucky of himself, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Same went for Clint, actually, though that similarity was different somehow. Thus Bucky wouldn't have felt comfortable letting the two of them do this on their own, which they certainly would if the rest of them bailed.

Natasha never did anything without a reason, after all, and for this the reason had to be big enough to require some stubbornness.

Bucky exchanged another glance with Sam, and then they both rolled their eyes and nodded. They were in, if only to do some damage control when things went wrong – which they undoubtedly would.

"So, what are we going to ask for?" Clint asked, flicking the lighter on and off.

Bucky didn't know whether that was a sign of nervousness or excitement, though he hoped for the former; it would be a relief to know that his friend wasn't a complete idiot.

"I thought you had a plan for that," Sam commented, glancing between Natasha and Clint.

And yeah, Bucky had actually thought the same. Demon summoning wasn't something one did on a whim, so the only reason any sensible person would do it was that they wanted to ask for something they otherwise couldn't get.

Actually, that explained it. None of Bucky's friends were sensible – except Sam, and that was only occasionally too.

Clint shrugged in answer to Sam. "Obviously not. So ideas are welcome. Who wants to pass their classes? Win the lottery? Get someone killed?" Steve glared at him and Clint raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, no killing."

"There's not really anything I want to ask for," Steve said thoughtfully. "Anything I want I can get with a little work."

"Ugh, work," Clint made a face, and Bucky laughed at him.

"Nothing for me either," Sam said. "And anyway, I wouldn't feel comfortable making deals with demons."

"It's not you making the deal," Natasha spoke up. "It's me; I'll accept the contract."

Bucky frowned at her. He had figured that to be the case, really, but now that he knew that she wasn't going to be asking anything for herself… It seemed rather rude to ask her to do it.

Then again, she was the reason they were doing this in the first place, so maybe not.

"I know," Clint said before Steve could protest to Natasha's statement; and he certainly would have, if Bucky knew his best friend at all, "let's ask it to get Barnes laid."

Bucky stared at him incredulously. Where the hell had that come from?

"You haven't been out with anyone since Alex," Natasha said thoughtfully.

Damn his friends. Must they all gang up on him?

And really, it wasn't like he didn't have a good reason. It wasn't easy to find partners when you were lacking an arm, and even the people Bucky had dated were kind of weirded out by the stump, so those flings didn't last very long.

Sam had suggested that he try to date someone else ex-military, but really, Bucky didn't want to date anyone. Well, dating he wouldn't mind, but with dating came other things, like intimacy, which Bucky was hesitant to share with anyone besides Steve these days.

He had gone on a few dates just to get Steve off his case, but after breaking up with Alex he didn't have the energy to do that anymore. He had also explained everything to Steve, who was most understanding and had been supporting his decision ever since.

"Guys," Steve said warningly, glaring at each of them. "We're not gonna ask a demon to find someone to have sex with Bucky."

His Captain Voice was showing, so Bucky was rather certain that no one was going to argue with him. Sometimes, like now, Bucky was thankful for Steve's captain tone – though he was confused by how Steve had it, since he had never been a commanding officer.

"Alright, fine," Clint said, rolling his eyes, and Bucky felt a surge of relief and thankfulness towards Steve. "We'll just ask the demon to have sex with Bucky."

Yeah, okay, that didn't go like Bucky had expected it would. And that was also completely out of the cards; there was no way Bucky was having sex with a demon when even another human too close to him freaked him out.

It was a side effect of being tortured for weeks, one of the more unfortunate ones. Well, besides the loss of his arm – though technically he lost that in the fall that _led_ to him getting kidnapped.

"No," Steve said, and Clint sighed in defeat.

There weren't many people who could stand up to Steve when he got like that; Bucky was just glad that he himself was one of them.

"What are we going to ask for, then?" Sam asked, glancing at all of them in turn.

And that was a very good question. Summoning a demon without making a deal with them would be a very bad idea, as that would mean no contract and no contract meant free roam in the world.

"How about something simple?" Bucky suggested, eager to get away from the subject of his sex life. "Like, uh, a drawing. Or a letter."

"That's boring," Clint said.

"Any better ideas?" Bucky asked with lifted eyebrows, and Clint obviously couldn't think of any.

Neither could anyone else, so after a few moments of silence, everyone nodded.

"What do we offer them in return?" Sam asked then.

And that posed another problem. The exchange had to be in balance, so they would have to find something of equal value to give to the demon. Though that also depended on what the demon thought valuable, so it couldn't just be a sketch or a book the humans liked.

"How about one of Steve's drawings?" Sam suggested. "They're amazing."

Steve blushed. "They're not _that_ good. I mean, we're talking about a deal with a demon here."

"One of your drawings for one of its seems like an equal exchange since your one is bound to be better," Natasha said thoughtfully.

Bucky and Clint nodded, both of them having ultimate faith in their friend's drawing abilities. Steve had charmed everyone with his art, even military personnel, and that had been before he went to an art school.

"We should have a backup plan, though," Steve protested, but he was smiling shyly so Bucky knew that he appreciated everyone's support.

"How about Bucky's other arm?" Clint grinned.

Steve glared at him, but Bucky only laughed. He might not be comfortable talking about his missing arm with strangers, never mind show them the stump, but with his friends it was fine. He knew they wouldn't be weirded out or pity him.

"Unfortunately I kinda need that," Bucky smirked. "So why not give one of yours?"

"No way," Clint protested. "I need both of mine to use a bow."

"How about a bag of chips?" Sam asked, motioning at their collection of junk food. "Or something else, like cookies."

The others stared at him incredulously, but Natasha actually appeared to think it over.

"That could actually work," she said. "We're not asking for much, and some sources say that demons are fond of human delicacies."

No one protested, so after a while Clint flicked his lighter and reached forward to light the candles. They had been placed in strategic places around the sign Steve had drawn – he had followed a design Natasha had drudged up from somewhere. Bucky didn't know where exactly she had found a demon summoning ritual that she considered authentic enough to actually work and not fuck them over, but he trusted her to know what she was doing.

She would never ask her friends to do anything dangerous unless she was sure it would work out fine, after all.

When the final candle was lit, Natasha pulled out her little notebook and started reading the text aloud. It was in Latin, naturally, but somehow Natasha sounded fluent in it. Bucky wondered if there was a language on the planet that Natasha _didn't_ speak.

Then a gust of wind blew through the room, and Bucky turned all his attention back to the circle in the middle of them. The longer Natasha kept going, the stronger the wind got, until it formed a tiny tornado in the middle of the sign.

Bucky had time for one last thought of how this was a terrible idea before the wind stopped quickly, between one second and the next, and there was a creature standing where the tornado had just been.

Except, it didn't really look like a 'creature'. It almost looked human. If one didn't take into account the glowing circle in the middle of its chest, that was. The other features, such as its face, largely resembled that of a human, though.

A very gorgeous, male human.

"Well, hello," the demon said, apparently unbothered by the fact that he – Bucky decided to call it a 'he' because it seemed rude to call it an 'it' – was shirtless. "It's been a while, so forgive me if I'm a bit rusty at this. Wherefore have thou summoned I?"

Clint snorted. Immediately, the demon's attention travelled to him, and Natasha subtly poked him in the side.

"Perhaps you want me to improve your looks?" the demon suggested, appearing completely serious as he observed Clint.

"Hey!" Clint protested, and then quieted down when Natasha poked him again.

"Nah, I don't think there's much you can do for him," Bucky said, shaking his head in mock sadness.

The demon laughed and turned to him, a grin stretching his face.

"I see not all of you lack intelligence," he said, and the grin turned even more amused when Clint let out another noise of protest.

"Indeed we do not," Natasha said, garnering the demon's attention. "We have summoned you, O Great Anthony of the Starks, to strike a deal."

"Great Anthony?" the demon asked thoughtfully. "I rather like the sound of that. But feel free to call me just Tony – that rolls off the tongue much easier."

"To be honest," Steve spoke up, "I expected you to be much scarier."

Bucky kind of wanted to bash his head in. They managed to summon a nice demon who appeared to have no interested in killing them, and Steve said that he wasn't scary? Really, didn't that punk have any sense of self-preservation?

Well, obviously not. Bucky didn't know why he continued to be surprised by it.

The demon – Tony, apparently – tilted his head again before smiling innocently. And that expression creeped Bucky out way more than even the demon's entrance.

Then shadows started to gather on his legs, climbing them up like snakes and twirling all around his body until he was completely encased in them. Only when they reached Tony's head and turned it into a dark, shadowy blob, did they suddenly disappear – leaving a startling red and gold shine behind them.

"Well?" Tony asked, the voice much deeper and almost electronic now.

Bucky looked him up and down. To be honest, he sort of looked like a man wearing full body armour of ages past. If it wasn't for the eyes that glowed blue, and the circle still apparent in the man's chest that glowed with the same colour, Bucky wouldn't have found him dangerous at all.

As it was, Tony did seem rather intimidating in his new outfit. Especially when he opened and closed his fist and a metallic clink could be heard with every move of the joints.

"I preferred you without that armour," Bucky said when it became apparent that everyone else was either too stunned or too worried about their own hide to say anything.

Instantly, the shadows started creeping back up, encompassing the demon, and when they disappeared, Tony looked like had upon his first appearance.

He grinned at Bucky. "You're my new favourite," he said, and even managed to make it sound like a compliment.

"That's great," Clint spoke up again, a mischievous grin on his face. "So you'll be happy to have sex with him for an amazing painting."

Bucky gaped at him, and he wasn't the only one. Even Natasha was staring at him rather incredulously, but Clint didn't seem overly affected. Clearly he thought that it was an ingenious plan.

"I'm not sure a drawing covers that," Natasha started to say, and Bucky kind of wanted to strangle her for that being her only protest to Clint's words.

"No, that'll work," Tony said, and then he stepped up to Bucky before anyone else had a chance to say anything. Just as Bucky opened his mouth to loudly protest, or perhaps to scream, Tony touched his shoulder and – well, they were somewhere else.

Demons could teleport? Maybe he should've done more research on them before agreeing to a summoning ritual.

"Where are we?" Bucky asked, taking a step back from Tony and glancing around them.

"In the apartment two stories below. I didn't sense any life signs from there – and look at that, I was right!" Tony grinned victoriously.

"Right, okay," Bucky said, starting to back away even more. "I'll just find my own way back then."

Tony frowned in confusion. "What? But weren't we supposed to have amazing, mind blowing sex?" he asked, fluttering his eyelashes a bit.

Bucky couldn't help but grin at that. "No. Well, Clint did say that, but that wasn't the deal we were supposed to make."

"Oh?" Tony asked, walking closer to Bucky while Bucky backed away until he found himself leaning against a wall. "I admit I'd much rather do you than any of the others," Tony whispered flirtatiously, his breath fanning against Bucky's jaw.

Huh. The demon was shorter than him. He hadn't really noticed that before, what with the demon's presence being more than big enough to make up for the lack of growth.

"Is it because I look male?" Tony asked when Bucky didn't say anything. Damnit, he was supposed to protest! It was just kind of difficult to think with Tony so close to him. "Because I can change my appearance, you know. In fact, I can change to suit, your, every, desire."

He said those last four words slowly, touching another finger to Bucky's chest at each slight pause. And yeah, Bucky should probably end this right there.

"No," he said, voice not quite as strong as he would've liked. "No, I – I just don't want to – Please, back off."

Instantly, Tony took a step back, though there was a frown on his face again.

"I'm confused," he said. "Are we going to complete the deal or not?"

Bucky swallowed. Damn, he had forgotten about that deal part.

"Does anything, uh, _bad_ happen if we don't?" he asked hesitantly, wondering if he'd need to have sex with a demon for the good of mankind. If that was the case, Clint was going to face some serious revenge.

"No," Tony said, raising his eyebrows. "There isn't even any deal yet. The contract is put into action when either party completes their side, or when a contract is signed. We haven't done either yet."

Bucky breathed out in relief before nodding firmly. "Good. Yeah, good. So, we're not doing that deal then."

"Why not?" Tony asked, and upon seeing Bucky's frown, he quickly continued. "If I may ask. I understand that some humans aren't comfortable with having sex with us demons, but you don't seem too freaked out by me. And, if I may say so myself, I am excellent at making love."

"It's not that," Bucky said, suddenly somehow worried that he had hurt Tony's feelings. Which was ridiculous because Tony was, in fact, a _demon_. "I'm just not… comfortable, with that."

"Asexual?" Tony asked and Bucky shook his head. "Demisexual? Autosexual? Recently gone through a traumatic event?"

Bucky made a face. "Not that it's any of your business" – and here Tony blinked, as if just realizing that – "but that last one."

Tony hummed. "Alright. You probably don't want to tell me what happened."

There was a tiny bit of hope in Tony's expression, though, and Bucky wondered what that was about. Was this demon seriously so similar to a human, or was he just playing Bucky?

"Don't really care," Bucky said with a shrug. "Fell down, lost an arm, got taken prisoner. Weren't the best few weeks of my life."

"Ah," Tony nodded in understanding, though there was a frown on his face now. "That does sound like it would leave someone afraid of sex."

"I'm not afraid of sex," Bucky protested, not quite sure why he wanted this demon to understand him. "Not that there's anything wrong with people who are. But, personally, I just don't like people in close proximity to me – and also, well, seeing my lack of an arm."

He motioned towards the left side of his torso, where the sleeve of his t-shirt hung empty.

Tony took a step forwards again, but stopped at Bucky's alarmed expression.

"I can understand the whole 'not comfortable with closeness' thing, but that second part seems odd. No offence meant of course. But I can’t remember humans finding anything odd about missing arms, or legs. And demons aren't really big on the whole appearance thing, so some extra limbs or a lack of them generally go unremarked. Except there was this one guy who had five tentacles, tentacles I tell you, coming out of his chest, which seriously freaked me out. There was just something about their squirming and reaching for you…" Tony shuddered at the end of his speech.

Bucky blinked. It was rather surprising, but he was actually starting to like Tony.

Also, if that demon got summoned for sex deals as well, perhaps that was where all the tentacle sex stories had started from. Bucky shuddered only thinking about it.

Time to go back to the original subject.

"Well, humans generally like everyone to be 'normal', aka with two arms and two legs and no disabilities anywhere in between either," Bucky commented with a shrug, his tone slightly bitter.

It was rather weird how comfortable he felt talking about this with Tony. Usually he avoided that particular conversation topic with anyone not part of his immediate friend group or his therapist, but somehow it felt okay to share these details with Tony.

Perhaps it was because Tony was a demon, so their standards were very different. Or maybe it was because Bucky most likely wasn't going to be seeing Tony again after tonight. It could be because Tony was too likeable, though. Or perhaps because Tony had that giant circle of light in his chest and so Bucky possibly subconsciously thought that he could relate to having different bodies than 'normal' people.

"Huh," Tony said. "You guys are so weird. Though the hole in my chest did also creep some demons out; partly why I built this," he continued, motioning towards the blue circle.

"You built that?" Bucky asked in surprise. "What is it?"

Honestly, up until that point, he had figured that the light was just somehow a part of Tony.

"It's a magnet," Tony explained. "There's some shrapnel inside my chest in constant motion – so uncomfortable, let me tell you – so I built this to keep them in place. I could have just picked them out, of course, but that would've caused pain as well and wouldn't have solved the problem of the hole – seriously, it was kinda bothering me as well. You can't even imagine what kinds of creatures thought that it was a good place to build a nest in. Anyway, since I'm a genius, I put together this little thing; it's the only part of me that won't disappear when I shapeshift, and honestly, I've grown rather attached to it. Not to mention that it's hot as fuck," Tony said, ending the explanation with a wink.

Bucky listened intently. He had never thought that demons had any problems with their bodies, but maybe they did. And honestly, it felt rather good to know that he wasn't the only weirdo around.

"If only I could build myself another arm," Bucky said jokingly, though he was slightly serious.

It would make life much easier; there was a limit to what he could do one-handed, and trying to find odd jobs that would hire him was hard. He might have even given up because of the ableism if Steve wasn't relying on him to pay his way through art school.

Well, Steve had told him that he could figure something else out if needed. But as if Bucky would let Steve get a job when he was so busy with classes and perfecting his art style.

"I could," Tony said.

It took a while for Bucky to remember what that was a response to, but when he did, he blinked in shock. Tony could make him another arm?

"I didn't know demons could alter humans' bodies," Bucky said slightly dubiously.

Luckily, Tony didn't seem to mind his doubt and didn't take any offense; he simply waved Bucky's worries away.

"We can't," Tony said, "but I can make you a mechanical one. I'm good at building mechanic shit – even the armour you saw today was made by me. Design, calculations, building; everything. It's what I do. Well, besides make love, of course," Tony grinned.

The armour had been mechanic? Okay, that made it scarier. Bucky wasted a few seconds trying to figure out what a mechanical piece of armour could possibly do, but then he went back to the more important issue at hand.

"But would you?" Bucky asked. "And even if you would, how would you attach it to me? Humans have a much lower pain tolerance than demons."

"There are fake arms for humans out even now, aren't there?" Tony shrugged. At Bucky's slightly incredulous nod, he explained. "I like to keep an eye on your progress. Demons tend to not try anything new, so I admit to stealing a few ideas from humans. Anyway, while the tech isn't as great as mine – obviously – they've figured a way to attach body parts to live humans. So, I figure, I could make you an arm, and you'll get a doctor or whatever to attach it. I'd offer to do it but I'm slightly lacking in the medical knowledge department."

That was a lot to think about. It was true that there were some mechanical body parts out. Those were rather expensive, though, so Bucky couldn't afford to get one – his insurance didn't cover it, and neither did the army.

It had been a choice between a new limb and therapy, and Steve had talked Bucky into going with therapy. At the time, Bucky had been slightly bitter about that, but now he felt that that was the right choice; he dreaded to think about how he'd be like if he hadn't been able to work out his biggest issues upon arriving back in America.

A surgery to attach an arm to him would be rather expensive too, though. Unless…

"I could sell the design," Bucky said, thinking out loud. "If it's as good as you claim, I'm sure other ex-soldiers – and other people too – could benefit from it. And I could use that money to pay for the surgery."

Tony frowned. "You'd sell my design as your own?"

"I – Well," Bucky said haltingly. "I can't exactly sell a design someone else owns. But I could name it after you, if that would make it better?"

He was perhaps jumping ahead quite a bit, since they hadn't even agreed on Tony making him the arm quite yet. But somehow Bucky was pretty sure that Tony would do it, and wouldn't demand the moon for his efforts either.

"Hmm," Tony hummed thoughtfully. "Guess it would. But we still have yet to work out a return price from you."

"We were going to give you one of Steve's drawings," Bucky said, rather hoping that that would be enough. "He's a really good artist."

Tony pursed his lips as he thought. "I don't think that quite covers it." Bucky's heart dropped at that, but he didn't lose hope quite yet, and tried to desperately come up with something. "I know!" Tony clicked his fingers, a grin spreading across his face again. "You can agree to summon me again. Like, at least five times. For, uh, a day at a time. Just chilling out at your apartment would be good enough."

Bucky stared at him incredulously. In return for an ahead of its time mechanical arm this demon only wanted access to his and Steve's shitty apartment?

"Why?" he asked, and then mentally berated himself for looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Well, it was more likely to go smoothly over with Steve if he knew all the details, come to think of it.

"It gets boring in the underworld," Tony said. "I mean, Rhodey is awesome, and Pepper is the best, but they don't get my interest in tech. So, I could look up all the newest inventions and all, and I kind of like you so I would also get to spend time with you. Come on, don't tell me my presence is such an awful thing that you would refuse a deal like that," Tony pouted exaggeratedly.

Bucky rolled his eyes and smirked. "I guess I could put up with you. You're not completely awful, for someone who talks as much as you do."

Tony gasped dramatically. "I only speak of important things! I am highly offended by that!"

"Tentacle demons?" Bucky deadpanned, and Tony grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah, fine, I'll give you that one. But everything else that comes out of my mouth is very important!" he claimed.

Bucky laughed. "I'm sure it is."

Tony nodded seriously. "But, as you would have it, not as important as what goes _in_ it." There was an eyebrow wiggle at the end, and Bucky laughed again.

Damn, this demon was turning out to be more fun that Bucky could have ever imagined.

"Okay, it seems like we have ourselves a deal," Bucky said. "But we should go back upstairs because I'm not agreeing to anything until Natasha looks over the terms and conditions."

"Natasha, the redhead?" Tony asked thoughtfully. "Yeah, she seems like an intelligent person."

"One of the smartest people I know," Bucky said fondly. "And, believe it or not, so is Clint. He just tends to use his intelligence for all the wrong things, like figuring out how to hide a dog from his landlord – it's more difficult than it sounds."

"Oi!" Tony exclaimed. "Dogs are very important, so that's a very good subject to use your smarts on. Perhaps he isn't quite as bad as I imagined."

"He's not," Bucky confirmed. "And you'll be seeing quite a bit of him if you do actually want to hang around my place."

Tony pretended to think about it, looking like it was a very difficult decision. "Fine, I guess I can put up with him. After all, you'll be there as well."

Bucky wondered if all demons flirted with the people who summoned them this much, and if Tony did it with everyone. To be honest, Bucky kind of liked the idea that he was special; not because of an ego thing, but because he was finding himself liking Tony a lot.

"You gonna teleport us or shall we walk?" Bucky asked then, happily stopping his thought process from circling back to how attractive and funny Tony was.

"Teleport. You'll find that us demons are quite lazy," Tony said with a smirk, stepping closer to Bucky slowly.

When Bucky made no move to run away and in fact raised his hand invitingly, Tony stopped hesitating and grabbed Bucky's hand and teleported them.

Anyway, what was up with Tony's consideration? Were all demons like that? Weren't they allowed to do anything to humans that said humans hadn't agreed to? Perhaps it was seriously just that Tony was that considerate. Bucky kind of hoped it was.

"Bucky!" Steve exclaimed the moment they appeared back at Natasha and Clint's flat. Then he shot a suspicious glare at Tony.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, ever the one with the most important questions.

"Yeah," Bucky nodded in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well…" Steve started, his glare on Tony turning more hesitant.

"They appear to think I raped you," Tony stated, looking more upset than Bucky had ever thought a demon capable of.

"Didn't you?" Natasha shot, glancing between the two new arrivals.

"No," Bucky denied. "We just had a chat. Tony was very respectful of my boundaries, and apparently a deal doesn't quite come into effect when someone just states the terms."

"For the record, I'm sorry," Clint said, a frown on his face. "I didn't actually think that the demon would take you instantly."

Clint wasn't big on apologies; none of them were, in fact. It was rather likely that Sam, Steve, and Natasha had ganged up on him and given him a long speech about what was appropriate to joke about in a demon's presence.

"Apology accepted," Bucky nodded. "Now, Tony proposed a new deal, and I'd like to go over the terms with you guys before agreeing to anything."

"I thought you only wanted the redhead's opinion," Tony mock whispered, his voice carrying out to everyone quite easily.

Bucky shot him a glare for revealing that.

"I'd be hurt, but she's the expert here," Sam shrugged.

Steve pouted in mock sadness while Clint exclaimed in offense, pretending to faint from the shock. Natasha on the other hand just smirked victoriously before petting Clint's cheek condescendingly.

"I'm the expert in everything," she said with a grin.

"I like her," Tony mock whispered again, and Bucky grinned.

Tonight was turning out to be much different than he imagined. Better, though. Much, much better. Maybe it hadn't been such an awful idea after all.

Yeah right. It had been a terrible idea, and they were lucky that it didn't come back to bite them in the ass. But since Bucky got Tony out of the deal – at least for five individual days – as well as a new arm, Bucky was rather happy with it all.

He was still rather curious about Natasha's motivation for suggesting the ritual, however. Oh well. Maybe that would be revealed in time; and if not, at least Bucky had someone to joke around with while Steve was at school.

For five days. Hmm. Perhaps he should ask if they could change that into a week? Or maybe two or three…

**Author's Note:**

> (Did I overuse the words 'mechanic' and 'mechanical'? I feel like I did. Oh well.)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! There might be a sequel, if anyone's interested.


End file.
